Residents across the area were invited to celebrate with Newman Regional Health on Thursday as the Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the hospital’s new emergency department complex.
The new ED won’t come online now until early January, but CEO Bob Wright is quite pleased with how things have developed over the last 18 months since the formal groundbreaking ceremonies.
Among those on hand for the ribbon-cutting ceremony were representatives of Emporia and Lyon County government. Mayor Danny Giefer was impressed by the layout and the thought process.
Both the city and county have partnered with the hospital in increasing ways over the past decade, with the city helping the emergency department project by approving zoning changes and the county helping the hospital by partially funding larger-scale equipment purchases. County Commission Chair Rollie Martin says both the city and county recognize the need to have a high quality of care at the hospital.
An open house and tours were part of the activities Thursday. There will be tours for staff Saturday, with a public open house at 1:30 pm Sunday.
The nearly $15 million expansion project moved the emergency room from the southeast corner of the hospital to the south-central area of the campus. it also tripled the overall size of the department and doubled the number of beds along with adding amenities and the latest in technology.
ExpressCare has already moved over from Flinthills Mall. The actual emergency department will open Jan. 8. The Clinical Decision, or patient observation, unit will open Jan. 15, with a new cath lab holding area and new infusion clinic opening by late January.
Photos by Chuck Samples/KVOE News
{gallery}NRH Emergency Department Ribbon Cutting Dec 27 2018{/gallery}
